How Bill Ritter Plans to Balance the State Budget

Deck

Faced with the task of balancing the state's sagging budget, Governor Bill Ritter told 9News' YOUR SHOW that he does not support raising taxes or fees and has no plans to remove any existing tax breaks to accomplish the task: "We are going to make cuts to current programs." The state has an anticipated shortfall of $384 million that must be addressed by next June 30, the Denver Business Journal wrote in a story last week that also pointed out state tax collections for July were off by 11 percent compared to one year earlier. That's more bad news for closing the gap. And the appointment of Representative Kent Lambert (pictured), a Colorado Springs Republican and ardent backer of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, to the powerful Joint Budget Committee only adds another voice to the anti-tax bandwagon (via The Denver Post). But the answer appears to be emerging in economic development, such as Colorado's fledgling wind-power industry. Business leaders gathered at the Capitol late last week to hail the relocation of RePower USA Corp.'s small headquarters from Portland to Denver in September, partly the result of a tax-break for companies that bring more than 20 jobs to the state, according to the Post.

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Johnson & Wales students, all baking and pastry arts majors, competed in the Gingerbread Takeover from December 6–8. Final judging took place on Thursday in the lobby of the Sheraton Downtown Denver hotel. All photos by Sarah Boyum

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The American Society of Interior Designers' (ASID) Colorado Chapter decorated the Governor's Residence for the holidays. Holiday tours, free and open to the public, will take place December 8-11 and December 15-18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. All photos by Sarah Boyum